Eggplant Green Curry

Please welcome guest contributor Garrett McCord as he shares a favorite recipe for green curry eggplant. This is as good as any I’ve had a restaurant! ~Elise

When I was learning to cook in college a Thai friend’s mother told me that there are two particular tricks you need to be aware of to craft a truly outstanding curry.

The first is that if you’re using eggplant you have to blister and sear it in order to enhance its unique taste.

The second is that you have to lightly fry your curry paste in order to reveal its true potential. Only then will you have a curry worth eating.

Utilizing these rules this basic green curry is as simple as they come, and that will easily match or beat any green curry you’ve had in a restaurant. While I love the flavor of eggplant in this dish you could just as easily use chicken or shrimp.

I highly encourage you to use kaffir lime leaves if you can find them as they add a certain floral-citrusy flavor that can’t be substituted. You can do this recipe without them, and though it will lack a truly authentic flavor it will still be completely yum-worthy.

Eggplant Green Curry Recipe

There are a lot of special ingredients in this curry. We've provided links to Amazon for some of the harder-to-find items, and most can be found at an Asian market if there is one near you. Also most of these ingredients can usually be found at Whole Foods.

Method

1 Place a tablespoon of vegetable oil in a wok or deep pan over high heat. Add eggplant and stir-fry until skin becomes lightly brown and blistered, and the eggplant insides begin to soften and get a slight sear, about 3 to 4 minutes. The eggplant will absorb the oil, if some of the eggplant pieces don't get any add a little more oil. Remove from heat and set aside in a bowl.

2 Place another tablespoon of vegetable oil in the wok heat over medium heat. Add the curry paste - be careful, as it will cause the oil to spit - and sauté over medium heat until fragrant, about 20 to 30 seconds. Add half of the coconut milk and mix, simmer for 2 to 3 minutes.

3 Add the lemongrass, kaffir lime leaves, fish sauce, brown sugar, and remaining coconut milk and bring to a boil. Add the bamboo shoots, cooked eggplant, and bell pepper. Cook for 4 to 5 minutes until softened a bit. Stir in basil and chilies and remove from heat. Serve over rice with lime wedges on the side.

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Garrett McCord is a professional writer and recipe developer whose work has appeared in many print and online publications such as Gourmet Live, Saveur, Huffington Post, Smithsonian, and NPR. Past clients also include numerous food companies, wineries, and distilleries. Garrett writes about cocktails on his website, Coupe de Grace.